Discoveries of a Little Mermaid
by TardisBlueMermaid
Summary: A series of one-shots about Ariel discovering new human objects and experiences.
1. Colors from Within

**(A/N- This story is going to be a series one-shots of Ariel discovering human things/experiences with some fluff mixed in. Now, I have quite a few ideas, but I want to have a nice amount of stories written for this, so if anyone has any ideas that would fit into this series don't be afraid to leave a review or send me a PM about it.)**

* * *

 **Colors from Within**

The rain fell softly on the palace in silver droplets bouncing off of any and every object. It was a steady rain, but it fell softly nonetheless like it was only a bothersome storm, which it was to a certain little mermaid.

She and Eric had planned to go out horseback riding. They had planned this yesterday, but forgot to take the weather into consideration, so today, instead of riding her favorite horse, Traveller―who had the tendency to act more like a wild horse than a tamed palace horse, but was always surprisingly calm for Ariel―they were stuck inside the palace on this dreary day.

Ariel sighed for the upteenth time. "I'm bored." They had nothing else to do, so they had retired to a nearby sitting room to watch the rain fall. There were other options, or course, but none of them seemed any fun compared to getting to ride her horse outside in the fresh air, or brushing his soft and white mane, or feeding him sugar cubes to thank him for the ride.

"I thought you liked rainstorms?" Eric asked, referring to the first rainstorm Ariel experienced on land. She seemed dazzled by it at first, but he could tell that this wasn't an activity for his adventurous mermaid at the moment.

"Yeah, but I'm not in the mood right now. Can we do something fun?" the princess asked.

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know," Ariel said, realizing that she had to come up with an idea. Then, asking like a child who was asking for something they very well knew they couldn't have, she asked, "Can we ride our horses in the rain?"

"I don't think that such a good idea. It's muddy out and someone can slip and get dirty or hurt," Eric replied. He remembered the time when he was younger and tried to ride his horse outside in the rain, but only succeeded in ending up muddy and getting scolded by Carlotta.

Plus, he knew that if he took Ariel out and she got muddy, it would all be strictly his fault, not Ariel's. No matter how hard he tried to defend himself, Carlotta would chose him to scold over Ariel since he "knew better than her," as she once told him the time they ended up coming inside soaked after their walk on the beach right before dinner.

He also did not enjoy the image of Ariel getting injured either. That would be worse than getting a scolding from Carlotta.

"Oh," Ariel sighed.

That's when an idea hit Eric. He couldn't let his little mermaid get muddy, but getting wet never hurt anyone, as long as it wasn't right before dinner, and they had plenty of time before dinner.

"How about we go out and do something on the balcony," the boy suggested.

"Out in the rain?" Ariel was confused now. Wasn't it wet outside? What was her fiancé thinking now?

"Yep," he said, getting up and grabbing her hand to lead her towards the balcony doors.

"Where are we going?" the princess asked.

"Just outside," the boy replied.

He opened the doors and stepped out into the rain, letting the rain soak him as he spun around showing Ariel that it was alright.

Ariel stayed inside however, unsure of what to do. Human don't normally like to get wet, so what in all of the seven seas was Eric doing? Anyway, it felt a little too cool for her out there in the early spring air.

"C'mon," he called for her, holding out his hand.

"But-" she started before Eric cut her off.

"What's this? A mermaid afraid to get wet?" he teased.

"What? No!" the mermaid exclaimed, finally taking her prince's hand and walking outside.

The second she stepped out, she gasped as the rain quickly began to soak her. It was slightly on the cold side, but she still loved it. She had been caught outside in the rain before, but as soon as the rain started to fall, she rushed inside, never staying outside long enough to get too wet.

She spun around and giggled. The feeling of being wet began to feel natural again for the mermaid. It was a feeling she sometimes missed during her time as a human.

Ariel giggled some more then smiled at Eric with her biggest smile since she first discovered the day's rainstorm.

"I know," he said, already knowing what she was thinking.

"Oh, Eric, we have to do this more, like everytime it rains and…" her sentence drew off as she shivered, the cold finally sinking into her bones,

"Come here," he said as he pulled her closer to him, but to her surprise he didn't pull her into his arms.

Instead he placed one hand on her waist and used the other one to take her hand and slowly began rocking back and forth to began a dance.

Ariel smiled and placed her free hand on the top of his shoulder, still not saying a word. So this wasn't horse riding, but it was still enjoyable and fun since they were in the rain.

They were dancing _in the rain!_ How fun!

They continued their slow dance and Eric spun her around a few times making her laugh. Eventually, as the rain slowed down till it was just spitting a few rain drops here and there, Ariel slowed liked the rain, too, simply resting her head on Eric's chest, confiding in his warmth as they simply swayed back and forth.

She shifted her eyes from the floor up to the sky expecting to just see gray skies, but instead she saw a curved line of beautiful colors.

Wait… _colors?_

Ariel let go of Eric and rushed over to the edge of the balcony, rested her hands on the railing and looked up.

"What's that?" she asked pointing to it. It couldn't be, could it? She never saw one in real life before.

"It's a rainbow!" She exclaimed and turned around towards Eric who had just made his way to the railing with her. "Eric, that's a rainbow, right?"

He laughed. How did she already know about rainbows? He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that she already knew what it was. He loved seeing her discover brand new things. At least he could still watch her excitement over seeing one for the first time.

"Uh-huh. That's a rainbow, love," the prince answered, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her close.

"It's so pretty. I always wanted to see a real one that's in the sky," the mermaid said.

"Do you know what causes them," Eric asked, curiously wondering how much she knew.

"Yeah. Sometimes when it's still raining out and the sun comes out just a little," Ariel twirled around to point at the sun that was peeking out through the clouds, "the sunlight hits the rain drops and shines through them separating the light into different colors and displays it into the sky creating a rainbow," she finished and looked back up at Eric, feeling really proud of herself.

Eric was stunned. Amazed actually, but very, very proud. He didn't expect her to know that. After all, she had never even seen one. She probably explained it better than he could.

"How did you know that?" the boy asked, finally coming out of his dazed state.

"We learned about it," Ariel said like it was obvious. What, did humans not learn about the weather that they see most often?

"So, you learn about rainbows, which occur in the sky, under the sea?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's basically part of the weather, right? We learned about the weather phenomenons like storms, tsunamis, rain, rainbows, stuff like that. Some affect us, too, especially storms. They make the sea really rough sometimes," the mermaid explained.

Eric nodded. Sometimes he was so consumed by watching Ariel discover new stuff and teaching her about them that he would forget that she knew lots of things already. She was already really smart and knew some things that he didn't even know.

"Sometimes if the light hits the water just right near the surface, a rainbow is created," she added. "Well, it's not really a rainbow. It's just a few different colors appearing in the water, but I liked to pretend that it was a rainbow."

"Well," Eric began, "at least you finally got what you wanted."

Ariel turned around and cupped his face in her hand. "Yes, I did get what I wanted―you."

He simply smiled and leaned towards her for a kiss.


	2. Frosty Confusion

**Frosty Confusion**

* * *

Ariel woke up to find that the morning was colder than normal in her room. She was aware that it was the fall season that had just gotten underway that was causing the cooler temperature, but this morning just felt colder than normal.

She sat up in bed as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, still keeping her blankets wrapped around her for warmth. While she didn't mind cooler temperatures, she hated the cold and would much rather have it be warm outside.

The princess glanced up at the clock. It was currently quarter after eight. In just fifteen minutes Carlotta would be up to help her start the day.

That was part of Ariel's day that she always loved. Well, she hated the waking up part. Sometimes learning new human things could leave her absolutely exhausted, but she loved getting to spend some time with Carlotta. It was sort of like a mother-daughter time in a way.

She sighed as she thought of the things she and Eric would do today. They had nothing planned, but they always found something to do, especially Ariel since she was still new to the human world. Almost everything was a new adventure to her.

Maybe they could do something outside if it was nice out. Ariel got out of her bed to look out of her window to check the weather.

It looked like a nice day. The sun had just come up, and it looked like it would stay out all day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. It looked like a perfect day to spend outside.

Her excitement slowly turned into confusion when she looked at the ground. What was that white stuff on the grass?

Wait. No. It couldn't be.

It was snow!

Ariel thought Eric said that it almost only snowed in the winter, with the exception of a few late fall snowstorms. Well, maybe this was just an _early_ fall snowstorm.

Ariel didn't care when it snowed. It had snowed for the first time it her human life and she wanted to enjoy every last minute of it. Sure, it definitely didn't seem like a lot, but at least it was some.

The mermaid ran out of her room and down the hall to Eric's room. Without knocking she barged in and ran up to her fiancé's bed.

"Eric! Eric!" She jumped on the bed and shook him, trying to wake him up.

"Ariel? Ariel, what's wrong?" he asked in his groggy state.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Everything is amazing. Eric, it snowed!" she excitedly exclaimed.

"Snowed?" the prince asked. Had he missed something? It wasn't supposed to snow. What was his little mermaid talking about?

"Yeah! Snow! That white stuff that falls when it's cold out."

"But it's not cold enough for it to snow yet," Eric said.

"Well," Ariel began, "It must have been cold enough last night because there's snow outside. Come on!"

She pulled him out of bed and dragged him to the window.

"Look!" she pointed down at the white stuff on the ground. "That's snow, right?" she asked, although she thought she was pretty sure she was correct. What else could that stuff be?

Eric rubbed his tired eyes trying to get his eyes to focus on the ground. Once he was able to get a good look, he saw exactly what his fiancée was talking about.

But it wasn't snow.

"Darling," he began, trying to figure out how to gently tell Ariel that she was wrong. He didn't want her to feel too upset about being wrong, especially when she was so excited. "That not snow. It's frost."

"Frost?" she asked. She never heard of that before.

'Yeah," he said as he tried to figure out the best way to explain it. "You remember what dew is, right?"

Ariel nodded. Eric had explained frost to her when one morning she discovered that the grass was wet and got quickly confused because it didn't rain that night.

"Well, when it gets below freezing the dew freezes into ice. That's what you're seeing," Eric explained and waited for her reaction.

"Oh. So it's just ice? I guess that's kind of cool," she replied.

"Uh huh," Eric agreed. "I know you really want it to snow, but that might not happen for another month or two."

"Will it be worth the wait?" Ariel asked.

He nodded. "I think you will love the snow," Eric said. He had no doubt in his head that his little mermaid would love it.

"Okay, I trust you," Ariel believed her prince. "I'll let you sleep some more. You look tired. Sorry I woke you up!"

Ariel gave Eric a quick peck on his cheek and left him to go back to bed. He was going to need his rest if they you going to spend the day together. Yes, she was a little disappointed that the snow actually turned out to be frost, but she would have plenty of time in the future to enjoy the snow. Today Ariel would just enjoy this time with Eric, but after waking him up early, she would have to make sure that she doesn't tire him out…or at least she would try.


	3. Ghost in Guest Room 13

**(A/N- Happy Halloween! Before you read this story, let me just tell you that this one-shot is pretty random, and it doesn't really fit in with the rest of these. I don't know how it popped into my head, but it did. I suppose it was inspired by the Suite Life of Zack and Cody episode "Ghost in Suite 613" and the movie that I loved so much when I was younger, Roxy Hunter and the Mystery of the Moody Ghost, although the one with the mermaid was my favorite.)**

* * *

 **Ghost in Guest Room #13**

Ariel sat at her desk looking over the guest list for the fall ball she and Eric were hosting because that's what human queens do! She loved getting her new queenly responsibilities, although a few were quite a bore. Planning parties however, was her favorite thing to do, along with meeting all of her subjects.

Ariel learned quickly that she loved the fall. The leaves changing colors on the tree was like nothing she ever saw under the sea, and the cool breeze was a lot nicer than a hot summer day, even if it was a little chilly.

The queen looked at which guest rooms her guests would be staying in. Nothing looked out of the ordinary until she got to a few guests down the list:

 _Room 11_

 _Room 12_

 _Room 14_

Why did they skip room 13? What was wrong with that one? It must have just been a mistake.

"What happened to the 13th guest room?" Ariel asked the maid who was currently straightening up the room.

"Oh, haven't you heard, ma'm. That room's haunted. They say a duke is haunting it after he died in there a year or so ago," the maid replied.

"Oh. No, I haven't. Thank you," Ariel replied.

That was strange, but fascinating. In fact, it made her quite curious.

She found Eric outside playing with Max. That was where he usually was on nice days when he had some free time.

Ariel wrapped her arms around herself as she stepped out into the cool air. The queen immediately caught the attention of the dog who abandoned his master to go over to Ariel.

"Hey! Is that how it is now, you mutt?" Eric playfully called out as he walked over towards his wife, who was already petting Max. He couldn't blame the dog for being attracted towards Ariel. Who wasn't?

"How are you this evening, darling," Eric asked as he helped Ariel back to her feet.

"Good," she answered before continuing. "But I have a question. What's up with the 13th guest room being haunted? They refuse to put any of the guests in it."

"I heard about that, too. Duke Williams died of a heart attack in there. I guess we can't force the servants to clean a room if they're deathly afraid of it, and we can't let have anyone sleep in a dirty room," Eric replied.

"Can we go check it out?" the mermaid asked.

"Somehow I knew you were going to ask that. Hey, how about you go head in a while and see what you can find? I'll be up shortly," the king responded.

"No way! I'm not going in there alone," Ariel pouted, waiting for Eric.

He laughed. "I'm just kidding. I would never let you go in a haunted room all alone. Come on, Max!"

"So, do you believe in ghosts?" Eric asked as they made their way up to the supposedly haunted room.

"I don't know. I never really had an experience with one before, so I don't really have reason to. We didn't have a haunted room back in Atlantica. What about you?" Ariel responded.

"I don't know either. Although, as a little boy I used to think the castle's basement was haunted. I never did find out what was making that noise."

"Can we go check that out, too!" Ariel asked.

"Maybe another day. I have a feeling that one haunted place is going to be enough for today," Eric said as they approached the room. "This is the one."

"You go in first," Ariel told Eric.

He lit his candlestick and then went in the room. Ariel followed closely behind him with her hands wrapped around his arm. Then, Max came up from behind the two and fully went into to room.

"Do you see anything?" Ariel asked. If she wasn't scared before, now she was spooked out. This room was much scarier than the guest room she had first stayed in during her first days at the palace, and the room wasn't even completely dark yet given that the sun had only started to fall.

Just then, Max started barking at something in the far corner of the room startling the young couple.

"What is it, boy?" Eric asked, protecting Ariel. He saw what Max had seen. There was a dark shadow in back of the room. It rose up from the floor to its full height and that's when Eric and Ariel both realized that it was indeed a person. It was the ghost of Duke Williams!

They both screamed and jumped backwards. Eric even almost dropped the candlestick. Their fear turned to confusion, however, when the her the person scream as well, but it wasn't a scream like it was trying to scare the young couple away. It sounded more like the person was scared, too.

It was a man's scream. They both stopped trying to leave and tried to make out who this mysterious man was. He wasn't a ghost. That was for sure. He looked just like... a normal human being.

During all of this, Max just kept barking away at the person.

"What are you doing in here! No one ever comes in here, and will you please get your dog away from me? I hate dogs," the man said.

"Max, come here, boy," Eric called getting Max to come over to them.

The man sighed and walked closer to the young couple. That's when Ariel realized that this definitely wasn't a duke. He was dressed nothing like what human dukes wore. They were always dressed nice, but this man was dressed really badly. He was wearing clothes that the normal villagers would wear, but his were a bit more tattered.

"Who are you?" Ariel asked.

"Who are _you_?" the man asked. He recognized this young boy to be the prince, but he didn't know who this girl was. But how would he know who she was with him hiding in this room for the past few months. Then, his eyes trailed down to find that they were holding hands and he made the connection. "Wait. Was there a royal wedding? Dang, I love those things!"

"Um, yeah," Eric asked, still confused. "This is Ariel, my wife and your new queen, but may I ask who you are and why you're in one of my guest rooms?"

"Oh, well, long story. You see, I lost my job a while ago and was never able to get a new one. I didn't know what to do, so I made my way to your palace to see if there was some sort of job I could get cleaning up stuff or something until I got myself straightened out. I was just about to go and ask for a job when I heard one of your maids talking about how she was surprised that the room the duke died in wasn't haunted. I snuck off and used that opportunity to stay in here making people think that it was haunted, so they wouldn't come in at all.

I've made it my own little place. I spend my time drawing, mapping the constellations, and reading books from your library. I sneak out every few nights to get some more supplies and food," the man confessed.

"Well, if you sneak out every so often how haven't you heard of our wedding. People talk. You would have heard something," Ariel asked.

"Yeah, they talk alright. A little too much. I used to listen to their gossip, but eventually it just got boring because all they talked about was how much they hated some of their jobs, or who was slacking off their duties–"

"What's your name?" Eric asked cutting him off.

"Nicholas, Your Majesty," he replied.

"Well, Nicholas. I'm sure I can make sure you get a job here. I think they always need help back in the kitchen washing dishes," Eric offered.

Nicholas smiled and furiously shook his king's hand. "Oh, thank you, Sir. Thank you so much. I'm so sorry for anything I caused."

"No problem. Now, come on. I'll take you down."

As they left the room, Ariel leaned towards Eric and asked, "Who do you think is staying in the basement?"

"I don't even want to think about that," he replied.


	4. Oh Christmas Tree

**(A/N- Obviously, this chapter was inspired by Christmas, so I want to thank everyone for reading this and wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a wonderful New Year.)**

* * *

 **Oh Christmas Tree**

"Are you going to tell me where we're going now?" Ariel asked for the third time. She wrapped her cape around her tighter as she waited for Eric to answer her. He had simply told her before they left that it was a surprise. She had tried getting the answer out of him, but Eric wouldn't budge from his position. They weren't traveling for long, but it felt like an eternity for the mermaid.

"You'll find out when we get there. I don't want to ruin the surprise," Eric responded. He knew she would love the surprise he had planned, so he wanted to see her face when she saw it for the first time. That was one thing he could never get tired of; the way her face lit up every time she discovered something new.

Ariel sighed. "Can you at least give me a hint?"

"Well, I could, but wouldn't that take all of the fun out of seeing the surprise?" Eric replied.

"Just a little hint."

"No."

"A really, really, _really_ small-"

"Nope," Eric responded. He smiled when he saw her sigh in exasperation and shake her head at him.

Ariel scooted in closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Can you at least tell me if we're almost there?"

"We should be there any minute now," he answered.

And Eric was right. They eventually arrived and Eric helped Ariel out of the carriage. She smiled as she placed her feet on the ground to follow Eric and listened to the crunching sound the snow made under her feet. She loved that sound even more that the sound of fall leaves crunching under her in the fall, but they both fell short of the sound of the ocean.

Ariel realized that Eric had taken her to a place that she had never been to before, but of course, there were a lot of places she'd never been at. She had a good feeling about this place, but she didn't know where they were exactly. All she saw was a bunch of trees.

"Eric, where are we?" she asked.

"Where do you think we are?" he asked, wanting to see how much she knew.

"I don't know. There are lots of trees," she answered, just wanting Eric to tell her already.

"What kind of trees?" the boy asked.

"Um...oh! They're those trees that never loose their leaves. Forevergreens? Evergreens! They're evergreens and you said that people use them as Christmas…Christmas trees! They're Christmas trees! Oh, Eric, are we getting a Christmas tree?" the excited mermaid asked.

All Eric could do was laugh. He loved the excited look on his young wife's face. She was even more excited than he thought she would be, and he didn't think that would be possible.

"Yes, love. We're going to pick out a Christmas tree for the palace," he smiled.

Before Ariel could get any more excitement out, a man approached them, and Ariel tried to compose herself, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

"Good morning, Your Majesties. It's my pleasure for you to have chosen my tree farm to pick a tree this year. If you follow me we have trees that are the perfect size for the parlor you wish to decorate right this way," the man gestured after rising from a bow.

"Thank you. That would be perfect," Eric replied.

As they walked towards the trees they would pick from, Ariel couldn't hold back a question. "So, if this is a farm, then you grew all of these trees?"

"It takes a while and lots of planning, but I love getting to give families the object that completes their Christmas. And of course, I do love Christmas myself," the man answered.

"That's really sweet," Ariel commented. Although this was her first Christmas, she already knew she loved the holiday. There was so much fun stuff to do, and she loved how everyone was always in such a good mood.

The man stopped walking. "These are the trees I suggest you chose from. I'll give you a few moments to chose."

"Wow, they look so pretty," Ariel observed. "And they're all taller than me!"

"Which one do you like, darling?" Eric asked. He knew she would pick out the best tree.

Ariel thought for a moment. She knew nothing about Christmas trees. She was even still learning about the holiday itself.

"I don't know. What makes a good Christmas tree?" she asked.

"Well, you don't want one that's too fat, but you don't want on that's too skinny, and you want the tree to be full of leaves. As for the color, you want a tree that's a deep shade of green, but not too dark. You'll know the one when you see it," Eric encouraged.

So they began their hunt for the perfect Christmas tree, which was full of "that one's too fat" and "that one's too tall" and 'that one almost looks dead."

Finally, Ariel spotted a tree that she just knew was the Christmas tree. She grabbed Eric's hand and pulled him towards it.

"This one," she declared. "I want this one."

Eric looked at the tree and smiled. He knew his little mermaid would be perfect at picking Christmas trees.

"It's perfect," he said. "Great job!"

Once Ariel saw the smile on Eric's face, she immediately knew she did did in fact do a good job. She wondered why she had ever doubted herself. Picking a Christmas tree wasn't hard; it was fun. It actually made her wish she could pick another one.

Her face lite up when she got the idea. "Eric! Can we get one to put in our room?"

Eric smiled. How could he resist her when she really wanted something?

"I think we can make that happen."

* * *

Even though Ariel thoroughly enjoyed decorating the tree in the parlor―that was full of Christmas joy with everyone from Carlotta and Grimsby to Max helping―but she was glad to be allowed this time between just her and Eric decorating the tree that was placed in their room. It was smaller in size than the first one they picked out, but it was still taller than her.

Eric lifted her up so she could place a decoration on a higher branch. She smiled as he did so and when he placed her back on the ground he wrapped his arms around her. She relaxed back into his arms.

"I love spending Christmas time with you," he whispered into her ears. He sincerely meant it. Ever since his parents died when he was just a young boy, he always felt sort of alone at this time of year. Sure, he had Carlotta and Grimsby, but having Ariel around truly made him feel complete. She could also light up the holiday like no one else could.

"I love it too, Eric. It's so much fun getting to spend all this time with you," she said as she turned around to give him a proper hug. "What can we do next? We still have a enough time before dinner."

"Hm…" Eric thought. "How about we make some Christmas cookies?"

"Okay!" she excitedly exclaimed. "But first we have to put the star on the top of the tree!"

"Okay," he laughed, reaching for the star to hand it to her. This only made him more excited to spend the rest of his Christmases with her.


	5. Flickering Lights

**Flickering Lights**

Eric had always loved warm, summer evenings, especially as a kid. The weather was perfect for sailing or simply relaxing on the beach under the setting sun with Max. He didn't think he could love summer days anymore until he met Ariel.

Actually, he loved a lot things more once he met Ariel.

She gave him a brand new perspective to everything, creating a brand new joy inside if him, not only for summer, but those summer days she made especially fun. There were so many activities to be done in the summer's warmth for Ariel to learn, and Eric wanted to do as many as possible so he could be the one to teach them to his little mermaid.

They had just finished having a simple, little picnic that evening to enjoy the lovely weather outside. Ariel had placed her head resting on Eric's lap while watching the sun set over the ocean as he ran his fingers through her soft hair, playing with it slightly.

A dolphin splashed out of the sea before diving back under. Ariel sighed.

"Do you miss living under the sea?" Eric asked, well aware that the answer was yes. He had asked her a few times before, but she simply brushed the question away. He knew she didn't want to offend him, but he could never feel offended by her missing her home. It was where she grew up. If he was in her place, would miss it too.

"A little," she replied with an answer this time. "But it was worth it to be with you."

"Well," Eric began. "If I traded my life on land to go live with you under the sea, it would be worth the sacrifice to be with you, but I'd miss home a lot more than just a little."

Ariel sat up and faced him. "I mean, I do really miss it. I miss the way the current would run past me like I was a part of it, and I miss watching all of the colorful shoals of fish swim by. I miss my family…" she trailed off, her voice becoming slightly unsteady.

Eric knew that he was the luckiest man on earth. He loved this woman, and he was honored that she would give up so much just to be with him so he would never have to let her go again.

He didn't know how to put how he felt into words, so he simply pulled her close and gave her a tender kiss that clearly said "I love you."

Once he pulled away Ariel saw him give her a face that was of pure admiration and love. It was that look that he had whenever he was about to say thank you for something he was deeply thankful for.

But before he could open his mouth to speak the words he finally had formed, Ariel spoke. "Thank _you_ for accepting me into your world and loving me."

"Ariel, how could I not? I love you _so_ much," the prince replied.

He leaned in to kiss her again, but as Ariel was about to close her eyes, she caught sight of something.

"What's that?" she asked eagerly getting up to see what it was.

"What's what?" Eric asked getting up as well. He walked over to her, but didn't see anything unusual.

"There was a light, a small, yellow light, but now it's gone," she said. "Wait, there it is again!" She ran over to the spot where she saw the mysteries object.

Eric didn't see what it was again and he couldn't answer his little mermaid if he didn't know what it was. Then, the light she had seen flickered again and the prince knew exactly what it was Ariel saw.

"Oh," he started and walked over to her, "that's a firefly. It's a bug that makes a light in its torso. They're out during the day, but you really can only see their light on summer nights."

"So, it's a bug?" That's cool," she responded. She knew of fish that made their own light for the darkest depths of the ocean, but this was the first creature she had seen on land that made its own light.

Ariel stuck out her hand for the firefly to land on, but then withdrew quickly. "Eric, are they safe?" She wasn't sure. The word _fire_ was in its name, so maybe it could burn her.

Her prince nodded. "Yes, love. It can't hurt you."

"It won't burn me?"

"No, it can't. Fireflies don't actually have anything to do with fire," he answered.

"Then, why are they called _fire_ flies?" she asked.

"I don't know, but some people call them lightning bugs," Eric told her.

"I like that name better," she decided. "The color looks more like lightning than fire anyway."

She then held out her hand and one of the many that had already come out due to the setting sun landed on her hand. She looked up at Eric and smiled, and he smiled back down at her as well. He loved seeing her happy and enjoying herself.

Ariel took a good look at the bug that was on her hand. It wasn't exactly the prettiest bug like a ladybug or a butterfly, two of the bugs Ariel had learned about over the past weeks, but its light was fascinating. It reminded her of some of the deep sea fish she knew, but it was completely different.

Then, the lightning bug started to crawl on her hand causing her to quickly move her hand back and the lightning bug flew away.

"That tickled," she said. "I did not like that feeling."

"Well, some people like to catch them. Want to do that?" the boy asked.

"Catch them?" she repeated before softly adding, "Like fish?" Ariel didn't like the idea of harming anything that didn't try to hurt her.

"No," Eric quickly answered. "In a jar. You catch some in a jar so you basically have a jar full of light. It looks really cool at night, and then you let them all go in the end. They don't get hurt at all."

"Oh, then that doesn't sound bad. Can we do that?" she asked.

"Yep, I'll be right back. We need a jar first."

While her prince hurried back into the palace to grab two jars, Ariel stayed outside and watched the lightning bugs. She thought that they were actually kind of pretty with the way they would flicker their lights on and then back off to once again become invisible. Even though they would only stay lit for a few seconds at a time, the vast amount of them helped light up area outside just a bit.

It wasn't long before Eric came back with two jars. He untightened the one jar and handed it to Ariel. "We'll catch them like this," he demonstrated by walking up to a lightning bug and lifting the jar up to surround the bug. Then he carefully placed the lid back on the jar.

Ariel watched the way he did it and then decided to try it on her own. She slowly walked up to one of the bugs and raised the jar up around it before carefully placing the lid back on the jar. She smiled at Eric.

He laughed. "Good job, darling. You did a wonderful job." Eric was always amazed with how quickly she could pick up on things. His little mermaid was certainly very smart.

The couple continued to catch the lightning bugs until they each had a few bugs in each of their jars. By that time it was even darker out than what it was before so they could see the lights in the jars more prominently.

"You're right. Their lights are so pretty when they're all together," Ariel said. It really was like she was holding a jar full of lights in her very own hands. The human world would never cease to amaze the mermaid.

"Do you want to let them go now? We shouldn't keep them for too long," Eric said.

Ariel nodded. She took one more look at the jar in her hands. She knew that they couldn't keep the bugs for long, not that she would even want to keep the creatures captive for long, so she looked down at them and then at Eric.

"On the count of three we'll let them go together," she said.

"Ok," he said as they both started to count: "1, 2, 3!"

On three they both took the lid off of their jars and the fireflies flew out and away into the night sky magically dancing into the darkness.

Ariel sighed as they watch them fly off. "Can we do this again soon? I love lightning bugs," she said and then yawned.

"I think we can it again tomorrow night if the weather is nice, but you know what I love after a long summer's day more than I love fireflies?" Eric asked.

"What?" Ariel asked curiously.

"Sleep. Come on. We've done a lot today and I'm tired."


	6. Midnight Storm

**Midnight Storm**

Ariel flopped down on her bed with a sigh. Today had been another busy day of discoveries.

Eric had taken her into the town to do a little shopping. Going into the town was and probably would always be exciting to her. The former mermaid loved being surrounded by all of the human objects she had yet to learn about and all of the delicious food she had yet to taste from the many bakeries and stores, but what she also thoroughly loved was getting to see what had sparked her curiosity to begin with: humans. Just getting to watch them go about their daily routine was enough for her. Plus, it was also amazing for her to think that she would one day be the _humans'_ queen. She felt that she had to get to know her subjects.

Their visit to the town was shorter than usual as they were both eagerly excited to then proceed on a trip to their favorite flowered hill where they had a simple picnic. The first time Eric had taken Ariel there she had discovered the dandelion for the first time. This time she had discovered a new bug, the caterpillar, which was apparently a young butterfly. As soon as they reached home Eric had aided her at her search to learn more about the new creature in the palace library.

All in all, she had a very busy day and could not wait to get some shut eye. After all, she couldn't have more adventures with her prince tomorrow if she was lacking sleep.

Ariel had just been escorted up to her room by no one other than her prince. They lingered outside her door for a bit so Eric could stay with her for just a few more minutes. While it might have been improper for him to go into her room with her, he was completely allowed to stand in the hall with her to kiss her goodnight―a couple times.

After he left her, Carlotta had made her way to Ariel's room to help her get ready for bed, and that was how she found herself barely even managing to climb under the covers.

She was more than ready to close her eyes for the night when she heard a noise―a very, very loud noise.

Ariel though that it sounded like someone dropped a whole bunch of somethings that would create a crashing noise, but followed by the first noise was a slow and low rumble.

She sat out of bed, puzzled. What was that? It had sounded to her that it came from outside. The former mermaid looked out the window, only seeing blackness staring back at her.

Just as she was about to lay back down, Ariel then began to hear what sounded like rain. She left out an irritable sigh and got out of bed. She simply wanted to sleep. The challenge of keep her eyes open was not something she wanted to try, but there was a small part of her that needed to know what was happening.

Pulling back the curtains further, Ariel peaked out the window. Squinting her eyes she managed to learn that it was in fact raining. It was a storm.

No sooner had she processed that fact did her eyes meet a giant flash of light accompanied by another loud crash. Closing her eyes she left out a small scream, but it was followed by an excited laugh.

It was a _thunderstorm._

Now, she could stay up for _that_. She intended on watching her first thunderstorm, but there was one more thing she had to do before she could enjoy it.

She raced out of her room and down the hall. This was her first thunderstorm as a human, so there was someone she wanted to share it with.

Without thinking about how she shouldn't go in or even how she should knock, Ariel barged into Eric's bedroom and ran up to his bed, climbing on it.

"Eric! Eric!" she began to shake the prince awake. He had stayed up late the night before to finish some work and followed by his busy day with Ariel, he was able to fall asleep in no time.

He groggily opened his eyes. Why was Ariel in his room? "Ariel? What's wrong?"

"What? Nothing?" Ariel responded.

"Oh," Eric sighed. At least he knew Ariel was safe. Eric subconsciously placed his hand on hers then let his tiredness take over again. "Then go back to bed. I _know_ it's not morning and you need you sleep. Whatever you discovered we can look at in the morning."

"But this won't last until then, Eric," she said and right on cue there was another rumble of thunder. "Hear that?"

"Oh, it's a thunderstorm," Eric said as he sat up and began to groggily explain them to her. "It's like a normal rainstorm, but a little…worse. The um…air changes to a different," he yawned, "temperature… or, uh, something and-"

"Eric, I know what a thunderstorm is, silly. I just want to watch it with you," Ariel said, smiling at how cute her half asleep financé was and she placed a kiss on his cheek.

Eric woke up a bit more at that moment. Her kiss made him feel like he was hit by a small jolt of lightning that electrified his body, but in a good way, and he was thrilled to hear that she wanted to watch her first human thunderstorm with him. How on earth did he deserve a girl like Ariel. _His_ Ariel.

"Well, I can certainly stay up a bit longer just to spend this time with you. It would be my honor," Eric told her.

"Thank you!" Ariel exclaimed, giving him another kiss. "I love you."

He kissed her back. "I love you, too. Hey. Grab that blanket and follow me."

Ariel looked at Eric puzzled, but did what he suggested. She grabbed a blanket and saw him get out of bed and pull back the curtains covering the clear doors to the balcony. He gestured for her to come over towards him.

She gave Eric the blanket and he sat down followed by Ariel. He took the blanket and wrapped it around the both of them. "We can't go outside, but we have a nice view from here," he told her, pulling her close.

Ariel observed how she could hear the winds howl like a fierce creature and how the rain fell from the sky and landed with such force. Sometime, the wind would even blow the rain onto the window. "I'm glad we're not out there."

"Yeah, thunderstorms are very dangerous. You never want to get caught in one," Eric told her.

There was a flash of lightning making Ariel ask, "Is lightning dangerous, too?"

"Very. If it strikes you it could kill you, but that's only if you are out in the open outside. We're very safe in here," Eric added. He didn't want to scare her.

"I always feel safe with you," Ariel told him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Eric smiled. He knew that there was never a moment he felt like he loved someone so much until he met her. No matter how tired he could possibly get, he would always at least try to spend time with her.

After a while of them silently watching the storm it started to quickly die off, traveling further into the distance to disturb someone else's sleep. Eric looked down at his fiancée to find her happily asleep, finally completely tired out.

He looked down to see her smile in her sleep. Eric smile as well. There was nothing he wouldn't do to see her smile.

Gently, Eric picked her up. He wished her could place her in his bed and hold her in his arms as he fell asleep, but they had yet to be married, so he couldn't be that improper. Instead, he began to head to her room to place her into her own bed.

Once in, he gently placed her back down in her bed and covered her back up. Never once did she wake because she was so exhausted from such a long day, but he still placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, my little mermaid. I hope no more storms disturb your dreams," he said before leaving her to her dreams.


	7. Falls

**Falls**

Max bounced up and down next to his master, trying to get his attention. To the dog, it appeared that Eric was just a little lost in thought.

He barked once more and that time succeeded in getting his attention and a very enjoyable ear scratch.

"Sorry, boy," Eric said. "I'm just wondering where Ariel is. She's never taken this long before."

The prince was waiting by the carriage for Ariel, ready to take her on their next adventure. The winter weather had fallen cold enough that a nearby pond had frozen up plenty, so they could safely skate on it. He had spent many past winters at that pond with his parents and a few friends. And after telling that to Ariel, she decided that she wanted to try ice skating too, and Eric absolutely loved that idea.

They had agreed to meet outside by ten o'clock, but here Eric was at seven minutes past ten with no Ariel, but she said she would be right down after she finished getting ready.

Eric stood up from petting Max and shoved his cold hands deeper into his coat pockets. He began to pace back and forth again and exhaled a breath that he could see from the cold. Where was she? True, she wasn't extremely late, but usually, she was the early one.

Eric was very anxious to go and spend time with her, but he also wanted to know what was keeping her for so long. Something could have happened to her, but he sure hoped that nothing did. Still, he would feel so much better once she showed up. In fact, Eric would soon go to find her himself.

He sighed. He had no clue love would create so many feelings inside of him.

Barking once again knocked him out of his thoughts. Eric quickly turned to see what Max was barking at and found his face lighting up. It was Ariel!

The prince walked over to meet her and the dog ran right past him to her to receive one of his favorite ear scratches.

"Sorry I took a while. I couldn't decide which coat to wear," Ariel explained.

Eric smiled his boyish smile. "Oh, no, you're fine. You're worth the wait."

Ariel laughed. "Thanks," she said, giving him a well-deserved kiss.

She walked over to the carriage door. "Are we ready to go now," she excitedly asked. This would be her very first time _ice skating_ with Eric. To say she was excited was an understatement. Ariel had never seen humans ice skate before, but from what Eric had told her, it was basically walking on ice, but you could almost compare it to dancing.

Eric smiled even wider at seeing her excitement. He opened up the door and helped her in. "Yes we are, and it won't be long until we're there. The pond isn't far."

"Thank you for taking me," the former mermaid said.

Eric pulled her closer so that she was almost in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her. "It's no problem. You know I would want to do anything for you."

She smiled up at him and granted him with a kiss on the cheek.

A smirk grew onto Eric's face. "And I remember you saying that you couldn't decide on which coat to wear," he started. "Well, you look very beautiful in this coat, but I _know_ that no matter which coat you would have worn, you would look stunning. You _always_ do."

A blush appeared on Ariel's face. "Thank you," she said as she pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. While she adored getting caller beautiful by Eric, she also could never stop the blush that formed on her face or stop her heart from fluttering.

* * *

Eric was right. The pond wasn't very far, so they arrived after just maybe a mere fifteen minutes. While it was one of the shorter rides Eric had taken her on, it still felt like a much longer ride. Although, spending time with Eric did help make the time fly faster.

But she was going to be ice skating. Like a human! Her stomach jumped at the thought. Ariel was excited.

When the young couple arrived, Eric helped Ariel carefully out of the carriage and grabbed their ice skates. Ariel eagerly grabbed her white pair.

"Come on," Eric grabbed her hand and led her to a bench next to the pond.

The guards were informed about the trip and were guarding the pond for safety precautions and made sure that there would be no one at there so they would have the pond all to themselves.

Ariel thought that the ice skates were very pretty when she first saw them, but then when Eric helped her put them on and stand up, she realize immediately that she did not like them as much as she thought.

They were very hard to walk in. The shiny blade was very thin. Ariel was so afraid that she would fall or that her ankles would snap in half if she stepped wrong.

She grabbed onto Eric's shoulder. "I'm okay," she quickly said, trying to cover up her struggles and worries. She didn't want Eric to think she was a guppy.

"Are you sure?" He asked. She looked very uncomfortable and he didn't like that.

"Yep. Can we skate now?" she asked, but didn't step onto the ice without him. She was too scared to go alone.

"Hold onto my hand in case you fall, which you might. For everyone, it's really hard the first time, but don't worry. I'll catch you if you fall," Eric told her while watching her study the ice.

Ariel nodded. If there was one thing she knew, she absolutely did not want to fall in front of Eric. She looked at Eric for permission to walk out.

He smiled and nodded, taking the first step out while still holding Ariel's hand. Once he had two feet on the ice, he turned around to look at Ariel. "Come on," he said gently.

The former mermaid knew that nothing out happen as long as Eric was with her, so she slowly and carefully place on foot on the ice. That's when Ariel realized that Eric was right. This out be hard. She looked up and Eric who extended his second arm out towards her and gave and encouraging smile.

She took his hand and took another step, landing both feet on the ice. However, the iciness made her feet much too unstable and she slipped.

Quickly, she grabbed onto Eric's arm and coat, clutching them tightly. He too held onto her.

Eric smoothed the hair away from her eyes and lifted her face up so her eyes met his. "Hey, that's better than my first step onto the ice."

Ariel looked up at him, her eyes filled with curiosity. "What happened?"

"I was so confident that I completely fell flat on my back. It really hurt."

"But, Eric. I still have trouble walking on normal ground. What if I can never ice skate well?" she asked.

"Well, my mother never was able to ice skate without falling. She was always hanging onto my father, and I know many other people can't do it. If you find out that you really don't like it, we don't have to do it again," he replied.

"Okay," she said. She understood that she would need practice. Eric's words were very reassuring. "Can we actually ice skate now?"

Eric laughed. "Of course we can."

Ariel let go of him, leaving just her right hand holding his left one. It was in that shift that _Eric_ somehow lost his balance and fell, leaving Ariel standing alone. Of course, in all of the motion, she too fell, but landed right onto her prince, practically onto his lap.

Despite everything, they both shared a laugh. "See," Eric started. "Even I fall."

"Are you okay?" Ariel asked out of concern. He had said that it really hurt that first time when he fell and this time, she fell onto him.

"Fine, you?" he asked and Ariel nodded, then he continued once he knew she was okay. "You know, I've taken a bigger fall than this."

"When?" she asked.

"When I fell in love with you."

Ariel laughed. "I love you, Eric."

They shared a kiss and then struggled to get back onto their feet, but eventually succeeded.

She held tight onto Eric's hand like before they fell. "Are you ready?" he asked her and Ariel nodded. "Just take one step at a time, carefully."

And she did because she trusted that Eric would not let her fall. She was very wobbly on her feet, but Eric held her as steady as he could—and she held onto him with all of her might, but she did it. Ariel came close to falling a few times, but Eric caught her, and, most importantly, they had fun.

Eventually the cold got to both Ariel and Eric, and he thought it best for them to head home.

"Carlotta will have a warm bath and tea waiting for you, and I'll make sure that there's a nice, warm fire going in the library, okay?" he told her while escorting her to the carriage.

Once they were both in, Ariel rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you again for taking me out today," she told him.

Eric smiled. "Of course, sweetheart. I love spending time with you."


	8. Starry Night

**Starry Night**

Ariel yawned. It had been a long day filled with an adventure with Eric, and she never thought she'd say it, but she was actually glad that the day was over simply because that meant that she could sleep.

She kicked off her shoes, still smiling from the last kiss Eric gave her. Each one was precious to her, but the last one of the day was especially special. It became a nighttime routine, Eric walking Ariel up to her room for the night. Even if he was in the middle of late night work, he would make just enough time for her. Ariel loved him for that.

There was an unexpected knock on her door.

"Ariel!" It was Eric.

She was puzzled at why he needed to come back, but overjoyed about it nonetheless. Ariel opened the door to see Eric smiling brightly.

He kissed her forehead before beginning. "Come on! I want to show you something." He grabbed her hand.

Walking with a much slower pace, Ariel left her room and followed Eric down the hall. "I love you too, Eric, but can't this wait until morning?"

"Nope! I just thought of it and it has to be at night. This night is perfect for it, and I don't want to wait for another night," he replied. Eric remembered past nights when Ariel would keep him up a little later than he had energy for. He never minded, of course, and he knew that Ariel wouldn't mind after seeing what he had to show her.

A part of Ariel was annoyed that she couldn't go to bed, but the rest of her was intrigued. Plus, this meant that she would get to spend more time with Eric. "Fine, but you have to tell me what it is."

"We're going down to the beach," was all he replied.

"To do _what?_ " Ariel asked, exasperated as Eric opened up the grand door and they walked out into the night air.

"Look up."

Ariel looked up into the dark sky to see a moon and some stars. There was nothing out of the ordinary. What did he want her to see?

She looked back at Eric, puzzled. He could tell that she wasn't realizing the true beauty of what he wanted to show her, so took her hand and led her down the steps. Once on the sand Eric sat down and she followed pursuit.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

Stretching out, Eric laid back, resting his head in his hands. "Lay down and look up," he pointed at the sky.

Ariel did so, but before looking up she looked at Eric and saw that boyish grin on his face. She then eagerly looked up knowing that what she was going to see would be amazing.

And what she saw did amaze her.

At first she saw nothing but the stars, but then she began to realize that the stars that stared back at her were absolutely stunning. Each star, whether standing alone or in a group, shined brightly, marking its place in the sky. They were remarkable. Ariel wondered how she never truly took notice of all of the beauty they had to offer. This wasn't her first time seeing the night sky before, but this was her first time actually taking a good, long look at it.

"Wow," she breathed. "Eric, there are so many of them. How many are there?"

He laughed at her excitement. "Millions. Billions, but no one knows for sure. There are just too many to count."

"Archimedes told me he would look at the stars some nights with his telescope, but I never got around to looking at them with him. He lived to far away to travel to at night, but he once told me that my father liked looking at the stars when he was younger," Ariel told Eric.

"So I guess neither of them ever got to show you the constellations," Eric said.

She shook her head. "What are constellations?"

"You know how we looked up at the clouds one day and saw shapes in them?"

Ariel nodded her head. She remembered lying in the grass, looking up at the sky, just like this.

Eric continued. "The stars can make shapes too."

"Show me one," Ariel said as she inched closer to Eric. He put an arm around her, pulling her close.

He pointed up. "You see that really bright star, right there? That's the North Star. Follow it and it will always lead you north and it's the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. The Big Dipper is down a little to the left. Just follow the North Star. Do you see it?"

"I do! I do!" Ariel exclaimed at the sight of the dippers. Never before had she had this opportunity. "It's so fascinating!"

"It is pretty incredible," Eric agreed.

"Show me more!"

Eric laughed. He was waiting for that command. "Well, there's also the Great Bear. The handle of the Big Dipper is its tail. The rest of the dipper is the body and there are other stars extending out to create the head and legs," he pointed up once again.

It took Ariel just a little while, but she eventually found it. "Wow," she breathed. She enjoyed this much more than looking at the clouds. While they were fun with how they were continually changing shape from the wind, stars held much more beauty.

'There's a story to go with it. Want to hear?"

Ariel nodded. He knew she would.

"Well, the legend states that there was a small village years ago. It was peaceful and all was well until the Great Bear came rampaging through. It began to absolutely destroy the village, and the villagers could not stop the bear, but when there was no hope left, a hero appeared. His name was Orion."

Eric turned around and pointed to the South. "See those three bright stars in row over there. That's his belt and he's there too. See? He came across the village and found the bear. Orion went and grabbed the bear by its tail and with his strength, he whirled it around and around and flung it into the sky. That's how the Great Bear got into the night sky, but while he was tossing the bear up, he got pulled into the sky as well."

"Well that's could not have happened. No human is that strong. Bears are big," Ariel said, but she still fascinated with the shapes and the fact that there were stories to them. She couldn't help but want to learn more.

"I said it was a legend. I never said it was true," Eric replied, smiling at her observation. She had learned what a bear was last week. "Did you not like it?"

"No, I did. You're a great story teller. I'm going to make you tell bedtime stories to our kids when we have some," she smiled at the thought of having kids one day and at the thought of watching Eric being their father.

Eric pulled her closer, smiling and planting a kiss on her forehead. "As long as you promise to sing to them."

"Agreed."

 **(A/N: I would like to point out that I know absolutely nothing about astronomy and the stars, so there are certainly errors in the facts, especially with the story about the Great Bear, but let me explain that. I thought I knew the true story behind it, but when I Googled it, all that I could find was a story about Zeus, but that's not the story I heard. I heard the story that I used years ago back when I was in kindergarten at my school's planetarium. And I feel like I distinctly remember it. Like, I swear I remember this story, so I used it despite the fact that it might not be completely true. I prefer it over Greek mythology anyway.)**


	9. Snow Much Fun

**Snow Much Fun**

"Don't forget your hat, my dear!" Carlotta called after a certain former mermaid trying to make her escape.

With a long exasperated sigh, she turned on her heels back towards Carlotta. Ariel allowed her to properly place the hat over her fiery red hair. "I hate hats," she frowned." My hair gets frizzy enough in the winter and hats just mess it up more."

"But you know that Eric doesn't care one bit what your hair looks like."

Ariel nodded. "Yes, yes. I know. Bye, Carlotta!" she said as she ran off to find Eric.

She found him down by the door buttoning up his coat. Max laid at his feet, waiting patiently. He looked up, his ears perked up once he heard her light footsteps coming down the hall.

Eric looked up and smiled at her, following Max over to greet her. "You look pretty," he commented, noting how her light blue coat complimented her eyes.

Ariel blushed as she always did when he complimented her. "Thank you." She herself began to take notice that he looked quite dashing with his old coat and that boyish smile. Although, she always thought that.

"Are you ready?" he asked, giving her his arm. She took it with a grateful smile as they walked outside into the cold, winter air.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. It wasn't long until they were outside and the snow began crunching beneath her winter boots. She smiled at the sound and the sight of snow. Ariel had quickly fallen in love with it. In what most people thought of as a mess, she found absolute joy.

Eric reached down to touch some snow. "Yep, this is perfect snow to build a snowman."

"You mean that it's not dry snow this time? It's wet snow?" she asked. Eric had explained to her during her first snowfall how wet snow was good for snowmen and snowball fights, while dry snow usually fell apart. However, she never really understood the concept of dry snow. All snow would leave her returning inside with wet mittens and clothes. Nevertheless, Ariel had been eager to build her first snowman, but all of the snow they had received was either too dry or there just wasn't enough.

He nodded his head. "I'll teach you how to make one. It's much different than making a sand castle."

"Okay," Ariel agreed, eager to begin. She took a moment to watch Max jump and run around in the snow. She smiled and concluded that he must have loved it even more that her.

"Basically, all we have to do is make really big snowballs. To do so, you make one and then roll it in the snow. Since this is a wet snow, it will stick to the snowball making it bigger and bigger until we have the size we need," Eric explained.

"That's easy," Ariel declared as she began forming a snowball. Eric did as well. After forming his snowball in his hand, he looked at it and then at his young wife. A mischievous smile formed on his face.

But before Eric had the chance to do anything, Ariel looked up at him as well. "No!" she scolded him. "We are not having a snowball fight now. I am not getting all wet after being out here for just a few minutes because. If we get too wet and cold, then we have to go in sooner."

"Okay," Eric sighed, but he still had on a smile. Ariel was a smart one, always reasoning things out. "Let's start the snowman."

Ariel watched as Eric placed his snowball in the snow and began rolling it around. She gasped as she saw its size grow bigger and bigger. It did work! She then placed hers down and did the same.

"I'll make the bottom and you start on the middle," Eric suggested. "Remember, we need the middle to be smaller than the bottom."

"Yesterday I found a drawing of a snowman," Ariel told him. "I know just what one looks like!" Eric smiled. She was always one step ahead when it came to learning something new.

It wasn't long until both of their snowballs became a decent size. Ariel noted that hers grew heavier and heavier with each push and was glad that Eric was in charge of the larger one.

"I think these are good sizes. I just want to get mine over there," he pointed towards the perfect spot to construct the snowman. "Brings yours over too so I can easily lift it on."

Ariel nodded and followed Eric over. Her mittens were already very wet from the snow and her hands were growing cold, but she didn't mind. This was going to be a perfect snowman!

Eric finally stopped pushing the bottom piece and waited for Ariel to join him. He admired the determination on her face, which was one of his favorite qualities of her. When Ariel was determined to do something, she absolutely was going to get it done, whether it was something as small as building a snowman or something as big as saving her lover from drowning.

"Good job!" he exclaimed as she stopped in front of him. "Help me smooth the top of the so the middle can sit right on top."

Ariel eagerly agreed and began to help pat the snow down into a flat surface.

"That should be good. I'm going to lift the middle piece on now," Eric said.

Ariel stood out of his way, ready to see their snowman come together. Watching in awe, she was amazed when he managed to lift up the massive snowball and place it on top of the other with just a little trouble.

"Thank you!" she kissed his cheek. "Should I make the head now?"

Eric nodded and so she promptly began, just like he had taught her minutes ago. It didn't take very long for the head to form, so once she was done with the much smaller piece, she picked it up herself and placed in on the very top, smiling once she was done her job.

"Looks good," Eric comments. "We should round it out." He began to smooth out an excess amount of snow on one side and Ariel followed pursuit.

It eventually took its proper snowman shape, but she took notice that it was missing a lot. "We need to decorate it, Eric."

"You're right! I'll run back in and grab a scarf and hat for it and you can look around for some small rocks and sticks. Sound okay?"

Ariel nodded, already off on her mission.

Eric turned to go in search of his materials. "Keep an eye on Ariel, Max," he patted the dog's head, who agreed with a simple bark.

Just eight minutes later did they regroup. "Are these sticks okay? Max helped me find them," Ariel asked. "They're for his arms, right?"

"They're the perfect size. And the rocks are for his eyes, mouth, and buttons. I even grabbed a carrot for his nose," he told her and then they began giving the snowman his features.

Finally, with the top hat placed on his head, the snowman was complete. The couple took a step back to admire their work.

"It's lovely," Ariel commented. "But won't it melt with the rest of the snow?"

"Yeah, it will, but we can always try and make another one another time."

Shivering, Ariel replied, "I would like that."

"Come on. I'm cold too. Let's get inside," Eric said, but before heading in he needed to call Max over, and turning around gave Ariel the perfect opportunity.

She hit him right on the back of his neck with a snowball. The snow ran down into his coat.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "You were the one who didn't want a snowball fight."

Ariel laughed. "Yeah, but since we're going in, I might as well get all wet. A snowball fight is fair game now."

"Oh," Eric acknowledged, scooping up some snow. "It that how it works?"

She nodded her head slowly, cautiously taking a step back as he crept closer to her and she shrieked as she narrowly dodged a snowball and ran away as fast as her legs could carry her, but Eric trailed close behind her.


End file.
